Decision details

To deliver one controlled and one uncontrolled crossing on Wetherby Road and Oatlands Drive, Harrogate;

to designate NYC owned land on Hookstone Drive as Public Open Space to satisfy conditions within the Stray Act as the proposals require stray land to be enclosed;

to advertise modifications to existing Traffic Regulation Orders required to deliver the works, for new Double Yellow Lines on the Eastern Side of Oatlands Drive and for a 20mph limit on Oatlands Drive.

The proposals have been consulted upon with members of the public and there was majority support for making the improvements. Improvements of the pedestrian and cycle crossings will contribute towards the Council’s ambition to encourage walking and cycling around Harrogate. Slingsby walk is a key pedestrian and cycle link which is already well used, it is hoped that an improved provision and safer environment will contribute to further uptake of active travel modes in the short medium and long term.
However in order to deliver the proposals there is a need to implement or modify several Traffic Regulation Orders for which statutory process must be followed. There is also the need to dedicate land as public open space in exchange for land being surfaced in accordance with the Stray Act. Both of these processes must be concluded before the works can be delivered on site.

As there is an existing crossing in either location this could have been left unchanged. However the proposals offer a significant safety improvement for more vulnerable road users and it is believed upgrading the crossings at Slingsby Walk will encourage more residents to use active travel modes. The proposals are supported by the majority of consultation respondees as discussed in section 5. Therefore this option was dismissed as it does not reflect the councils priorities with respect to supporting active travel.

For the Wetherby Road crossing, this could be installed with a link to the existing signals at Wetherby Road/St Winifred’s Avenue. However, this would offer a reduced benefit to Active Travel, since the wait times at the proposed crossing would be up to one minute, whereas without a link this wait time is reduced to 30 seconds. Officers do not recommend to link the signals in order.